Bengals Crumble as Bad Andy Dalton Returns in Prime-Time Spotlight

Andy Dalton's other shoe finally dropped.

The national media's constant dismissal of the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback had become a running joke on top of a running joke: How many games could the Bengals win on the strength of his great performances before analysts would stop bringing up his past failings? Were Dalton to finish the regular season as the NFL's top-rated passer, Cincinnati the NFL's top scoring offense and the Bengals undefeated, by how many points would their playoff opponent be favored?

With every week, every win, every eye-popping stat line, Dalton had shamed every columnist and commentator who'd hesitated to sing his praises. Once the Bengals passed the halfway mark undefeated, the few remaining doubters converted: Just one of the 133 NFL experts and game-picking algorithms tracked by NFLPickwatch.com thought the Bengals would come out on top.

"Our goal tonight was to make the Red Rifle look like a Red Ryder BB gun," J.J. Watt told ESPN after the Houston Texans' 10-6 Monday Night Football upset of the Bengals, "and I think we did that tonight." 

For once, an athlete claiming nobody believed his team had a chance was speaking absolute truth.

"Everybody told us we couldn't do this," Watt said. "Everyone said, 'You're 3-5, there's no way you can go in their building and win.' Well...how y'all doin'?" 

Watt and the Texans secondary played outstanding ball, but Dalton and the Bengals had plenty of opportunities to win—they just didn't take any of them.

Gary Landers/Associated Press

The Bengals and Texans needed five combined possessions to mount a drive that ended in something other than a punt. With 1:28 left in the first quarter, Bengals kicker Mike Nugent hit a 42-yard field goal to break the scoreless tie. The Texans answered on the ensuing drive, pulling equal with 12:16 left in the first half.

To answer, the Bengals embarked on a 15-play, 62-yard drive (do the math, that's a tiny 4.1 yards per play) before Nugent hit his second field goal of the night with 5:26 before halftime. They didn't know it at the time, but those were the last points Dalton and the Bengals would score.

That's right: The NFL's No. 3 scoring offense, averaging 28.6 points per game before Monday night, kicked two field goals in its first four possessions and then suffered through a 35:25 scoring drought that ended only because the final gun put the Bengals out of their misery.

Dalton began the game moving the ball well between the 20s, as offensive coordinator Hue Jackson's packaged plays gave him a chance to quickly get rid of the ball. But as Watt and company continued to hassle Dalton into poor throws, the Texans secondary began anticipating his decisions, jumping routes, breaking up passes, knocking balls loose and eventually coming up with a pick:

On the other side of the ball, Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer and his offense kept the Bengals in the game by playing even worse. But with 2:21 left to go before the fourth quarter, backup quarterback T.J. Yates came in to relieve Hoyer; the team later announced Hoyer was "being evaluated for a possible concussion."

Yates immediately gave the offense a lift. In fact, just eight plays after coming in, Yates connected with star receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the offensive highlight of the evening: the game's only touchdown.

Dalton and the Bengals had a whopping four possessions after that to answer. Four! But a combination of bad play from Dalton and crucial drops from normally sure-handed targets like tight end Tyler Eifert short-circuited the Bengals' many comeback attempts.

After all that, they still had a chance.

With 50 seconds left in the game, the Bengals were well into Texans territory, yet facing a game-ending 4th-and-6. Dalton found star receiver A.J. Green for a 10-yard gain—but defensive back Quintin Demps popped Green, knocking the ball loose, and the Texans pounced on it:

All Yates had to do was kneel down twice to walk out of Paul Brown Stadium a victor and not for the first time: His second career start, back in 2011, was a pivotal 20-19 Texans win. The Bengals won't soon forget the postseason rematch, when Yates led the Texans to a 31-10 win (and Dalton threw three picks in the loss). In the minutes after this win, one Wikipedia wag put Yates' name in as owner of the Bengals franchise (h/t Ryan Munthe):

"

Owner: TJ Yates pic.twitter.com/4BZRvIDcJc

— Ryan Munthe (@SaintArnoldRyan) November 17, 2015"

Dalton's final stat line was ugly: 22-of-38 for 197 yards, no touchdowns, an interception and three sacks. 

In the grand scheme of the season, this individual loss doesn't mean much of anything. At 8-1, the Bengals are still two wins ahead of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. Going into a crucial Week 11 prime-time matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, though, this stumble revived the old demons at the worst possible time.

Worst of all, it's made all the cynics and snarks right again...doubters and naysayers right again. Even if Dalton couldn't truly silence all of them until he won a playoff game, now he and the Bengals will have countless critical voices in their ear—and, as they did Monday night, 65,535 booing fans who expect better.